Two hours before Ole Miss football games, Rebel fans line up in the Grove for a chance to see the team walk toward Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The Walk of Champions has become a tradition for every home game at Ole Miss, and fans wait eagerly to get a high-five or a picture with their favorite players.
The origins of this tradition can be traced back to Homer Ervin “Billy” Brewer. He played quarterback and defensive back on the 1958-60 Rebel teams and was head football coach at Ole Miss from 1983 to 1993.
Brewer wanted to find a way for the players to experience the Grove before games along with the fans. He started taking different routes every Saturday, walking from the old athletic dorm, Kinard Hall, to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, until 1985 when the team started taking the route they do today. Now, the Rebels start at the student union and walk through the Grove all the way to the Vaught.
“The players really loved Coach Brewer and he loved them back,” former Special Assistant to the Athletic Director Langston Rogers said. “What he started in 1985 was his way of allowing the players to experience the thrill of what was happening in the Grove and to see how excited our fans were to view them up close on their walk to the stadium.”
Rogers joined the Rebel athletics staff on July 1, 1981, as the sports information director. Since then, he has been promoted to assistant athletic director for sports information in 1984, associate athletics director for sports information in 2001 and senior associate athletics director for media relations in 2005. Rogers retired in May 2010 after 29 years at UM. He worked alongside Brewer and had the chance to watch the tradition grow firsthand.
“When Billy Brewer started bringing his football team through the Grove on the same route for each home game in 1985, I don’t think any of us could have predicted his decision would grow into such a unique college football experience. Billy’s idea quickly spread to other college teams, especially in the Southeastern Conference,” Rogers said.
The Grove is a big part of Ole Miss football traditions. Rebel fans gather there to celebrate the team before the game. Brewer’s love for the school and the team inspired him to find a way to bring both together.
“The team’s walk through the Grove reached another level in 1998 when Coach John Vaught’s 1962 perfect season (10-0) team donated funds for the Walk of Champions arch at the entrance to the Grove near the student union,” Rogers said.
The Walk of Champions would not be complete without the picture-perfect arch, the final piece to top off this tradition.
“Ole Miss has long been known for its tailgating experience in the Grove on game day. It has become a bucket list for visitors throughout the nation as they come to Oxford to enjoy one of our most cherished traditions,” Rogers said. “Billy Brewer added to that tradition. Just imagine what we would have missed all these years had he not put his idea in motion.”
The Walk of Champions is a physical representation of the Ole Miss community and how we support each other.
“The Walk of Champions epitomizes everything Ole Miss Athletics is and wants to be. So many great athletes have walked this walk and our fans have embraced this tradition in a major way,” UM Athletics Director Keith Carter said. “We are very intentional as we talk about winning championships at the highest level, and I think the Walk of Champions gives us an unbelievable opportunity to merge our student-athletes, coaches and fans as a rallying point to achieve our goals.”
